"When I was telling people that I joined Piaggio," said John Bingham, "they would say, 'I didn't realize that you had gone to work in motor scooters.' I quickly understood that we needed to do something about the name of the company. So that is why we branded it 'Piaggio Aero.'"

How would you respond to an in-flight emergency? If your answer involves seeking help from flight attendants, that's not surprising. Passengers typically consider them to be the cabin safety go-to people.

I wouldn't normally comment about something I saw in an advertisement in this magazine, but the PlaneSense ad on page 65 in our 2010 Buyers' Guide hit too close to home to let pass without relating a recent tale of airline-travel-induced woe.

Even though I'm a pilot, I still love loading up the car and hitting the highway for a far-off vacation destination. Some of my most relaxing moments have been behind the wheel, with Woody Guthrie's "ribbon of highway" stretched out ahead of the hood ornament.

Planning to fly to Wisconsin's Sheboygan County Airport for this year's PGA Championship at the Whistling Straits links course August 12 to 15? The good news is that Kohler, the plumbing firm, and some other local companies of note base their jets there, so the airport has more amenities than your typical small-town landing strip.